Being a Tyee member and huge Willingham fan, Cornell had jumped through the necessary hoops with the athletic department to be able to attend practice with his father. After doing so, he went and wrote an innocuous post on the premium message board of Dawgman.com. He jokingly sneered at the posters who wanted Willingham fired, saying that the team was working hard and looking great.
Willingham, who frequently read newspapers, websites and message boards where discussions on Husky football prevailed, was livid. A call came from the athletic department that Cornell and his dad were banned from all practices. Cornell was still in a state of shock when he fielded another call.
“Jennifer Cohen, a really nice lady from the athletic department, called me,” recalled Cornell. “She apologized for Willingham’s behavior and said things had been tense around there. She offered to take me out to lunch to smooth things over and that she appreciated our support of the program. But she said that at this time it’s up to Willingham to let you back into practice. I don’t think I did anything wrong. I defended the guy and said the players were giving great effort.
Comments
I will take that as a compliment.